Single serving beverage dispensing machines are very popular because they provide a fresh tasting beverage quickly without having to produce multiple servings. Single serving beverages such as coffee are typically produced by beverage dispensing machines that use beverage cartridges holding beverage products.
When operating a beverage dispensing machine of this nature, a user typically loads a new cartridge into a cartridge holder located in a slide mechanism and slides the mechanism into place. Once in place, the beverage making process can begin. Generally, a liquid under pressure is injected into the cartridge through the beverage product and the beverage is extracted from the bottom of the cartridge.
Following production of the beverage, the used cartridge must be ejected. Existing methods of cartridge ejection can be unreliable. Some methods rely on gravity to dislodge the cartridge by flipping over the cartridge holder. The cartridge may not fall out of the cartridge holder easily if the cartridge and cartridge holder are not completely clean and free of debris. Therefore, it is desirable to produce a reliable cartridge ejector mechanism.
Additionally, typical beverage dispensing machines of this nature do not have a means to stop a user from retracting the slide mechanism during the operation of the machine. In the case that a user accidentally pulls the cartridge out of position, the process will be forced to stop mid-cycle. It is possible that the equipment may become jammed or damaged during this process.
Also, typical beverage dispensing machines have an injector and an extractor that are parallel to each other and therefore enter the bottom of the cartridge in parallel alignment. The distance that the extractor travels and enters the cartridge must be closely controlled to avoid puncturing the filter element in the cartridge and contaminating the extractor or the brewed beverage with the powdered beverage contained in the cartridge.
Conventional beverage dispensing machines include a liquid injector made of a cylindrical pin with a fluid flow path through the length of the injector pin and having a closed end. Holes extend through the sides of the injector pin to provide an outlet for the liquid. The liquid is ejected from the outlet, under pressure and is forcefully directed to the area adjacent the holes in the injector pin. Thus, the liquid is ejected into the adjacent area rather than directed throughout the cartridge. This results in incomplete mixing with the beverage product and inefficient brewing.
As stated above, conventional beverage dispensing machines inject a liquid under pressure into the cartridge through the beverage product and the beverage is extracted from the bottom of the cartridge. In these machines, the extraction and delivery systems can become contaminated with residual beverage product thereby causing flavor from a beverage product used in one cycle of the machine, to be imparted to the beverage brewed during the next cycle of the machine. In some cases this may be an objectionable or unwanted flavor.
It is therefore an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide a novel beverage dispensing apparatus to obviate or mitigate at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.